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27 Full-Sun Perennials for Years of Garden Beauty
These stalwarts will help keep the garden looking full!
Perennials are the stalwarts of a well-planned garden.
Though they tend to grow more slowly—and may not always be quite as showy—well-tended beds of perennials offer beauty all year long and keep you from having to start from scratch year after year. (Here's a deep-dive on all the differences between perennials and annuals.)
Perennials are particularly great for garden edges and borders, allowing you to grow a variety of plants around and between them, while marking off garden space from yards or other areas.
It's important to remember, however, that with perennials you'll need to know your USDA Hardiness Zone. That will tell you what plants will grow in your area—that won't be frozen out by your winters or burned by your summers. You can find your Hardiness Zone here. Keep in mind if you haven't checked in a while, the maps were recently updated to account for warmer overall temperatures (as well as new dry and wet zones), so you may find new plants you didn't know you could grow.
Tips for Planning a Garden
If you're just starting out with a new garden, you'll want to get your soil tested. This will help you know how quickly or slowly it drains, as well as the pH levels and the nutrient makeup (which will tell you if you need to amend the soil, and with what).
Here's how to understand fertilizer numbers and letters.
You can send a sample of your soil—along with a few dollars–to your local Cooperative Extension, and they will tell you everything you need to know and everything you need to do to improve it.
Plant tags will tell you everything you need to know about how much sun, what kind of soil, and ideal zones that variety needs. Don't have a lot of land? No worries. Many of these will work just as well for container gardens. Here, some of the best sun-loving perennials.
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Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
Here's a perennial with a wonderful fragrance—it's often called Fragrant giant hyssop—and it smells something like mint or licorice.
Growing two to four feet tall, the plants bloom June through September and are especially good for attracting pollinators.
Hardiness Zones: 4 to 8
Keep Reading: 30 Gorgeous Flowering Plants That Attract Bees
Hibiscus
If you crave vibrant color and showy flowers, plant a hardy hibiscus in your garden. With huge blooms that can reach the size of dinner plates, these perennials instantly transport you to the tropics.
Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9
Learn more: How to Grow Hibiscus
Daisies
These classic beauties are worth a sunny spot in any garden! Varieties can range from closer to the ground to several feet tall.
Hardiness Zones: 4 to 9
Learn more: How to Grow Daisies
Bee Balm
If you're looking to add color to the garden and attract birds, bees, and butterflies, bee balm is the right flower for you. It thrives in full sun.
Hardiness Zones: 4 to 9
Read more: 21 Flowers That Hummingbirds Adore
Canna Lily
If you're looking for pretty flowers and fabulous foliage, Canna lily is the right pick for you. This hummingbird attractant likes the heat and the sunshine, where it thrives.
Hardiness Zones: 8 to 12
Read more: 21 Flowers That Hummingbirds Adore
Peonies
This shrubby plant with glossy dark green foliage has lush, exuberant flowers with rich fragrance in late spring. Don’t plant too deep or they won’t bloom. The ants that visit the flowers aren’t pests; they’re sipping the nectar.
Varieties to try: Festiva Maxima, Sarah Bernhardt
Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8
Read more: How to Properly Grow and Care for Peonies
Russian Sage (Salvia yangii)
Abundant spiky purple flowers and lacy gray-green leaves adorn this upright shrubby plant. It blooms mid- to late summer and tolerates a range of soil types.
Varieties to try: Rocketman, Denim ‘n Lace
Hardiness Zones: 4 to 9
Read more: 20 Drought-Resistant Plants
Columbine
These graceful, elegant flowers bloom for weeks in late spring to early summer. The plants typically last only a few years, although they often drop seeds which start new little plants. Columbine also produce more blooms with some deadheading.
Varieties to try: Lime Sorbet, Swan Burgundy, and White
Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9
Keep reading: Which Flowers Should You Deadhead?
Campanula (Bellflower)
Nodding white or purple-blue bells bloom in early to midsummer. Both upright and low-growing varieties are available.
Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8
Varieties to try: Meteora, Superba
Learn more: How to Grow and Care for a Campanula Bellflower
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)
These classic American wildflowers are gorgeous, grow 2 to 3 feet tall, and once established will basically grow themselves.
Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8
Learn more: 15 Easy Plants That Give You More Bang for Your Buck
Chrysanthemum
With every color of the rainbow, you’ll find a type to love. But here’s the kicker: If you want mums to come back every year, plant them in the spring. If you plant in the fall (like most people do), the plants don’t have time to get established in time to survive winter.
Hardiness Zones: 4 to 9
Varieties to try: Hillside Sheffield Pink, Matchsticks
Learn more: How to Grow Chrysanthemums
Hardy Geranium
These mounding perennials (not to be confused with the type you usually see potted on a window sill) have a long flowering period and spicy fragrance. They’re sturdy plants that quickly double in size. Early summer is peak bloom.
Hardiness Zones: 4 to 8
Varieties to try: Rozanne, Biokovo
Learn more: 25 Most Fragrant Plants
Catmint (Nepeta)
These early summer bloomers are hardy, fast-growing and fuss-free. Their pink, purple, or white flowers bloom for weeks in the landscape, and the foliage has a pleasant, light minty scent.
Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8
Varieties to try: Walker’s Low, Blue Wonder
Learn More: 20 Fast-Growing Plants
Daylily (Hemerocallis)
Big, gorgeous daylily blooms appear early to midsummer. These flowering perennials multiple quickly, so you can divide in a few years and gain more plants. Fun fact: Daylilies aren't acutally lilies! But they are actually beautiful. There are cultivars for nearly every hardiness zone.
Hardiness Zones: 1 to 11
Varieties to try: Chorus Line, Romantic Returns
Love Lillies? 17 Types of Lilies You'll Love to Grow in Your Garden
Lavender
Beautiful pale purple flowers, silvery foliage, and appealing fragrance make this perennial herb an all-around winner in any garden setting. The woody classic is cranky about being moved once established, so pick a spot and stick with it.
Hardiness Zones: typically 5 to 10, depending on variety
Varieties to try: SuperBlue, Phenomenal
Read more: How to Grow Lavender
Coneflower (Echinacea)
Bright daisy-like blooms come in a profusion of colors and sizes. They flower from early to midsummer for weeks. Keep the seed heads in place over the winter for the birds. The fragrant flowers can be used fresh or dried for echinacea tea!
Hardiness Zones: 4 to 9
Varieties to try: Sombrero Salsa Red, Lakota Fire
Learn more: 25 Fragrant Plants That Will Make Your Garden Smell Amazing
Sedum
These bullet-proof perennials come in every size, shape, form, and color from upright to ground-hugging. They’re an excellent choice in dry, sandy soils.
Hardiness Zones: 3 to 9
Varieties to try: Dynomite, Angelina, Autumn Joy
Learn more: How to Grow Autumn Joy Sedum
Perennial Poppies
These bold, dancing blooms flower for a few weeks in early summer. They’re best planted en masse. Make sure you buy a type that is perennial (which come back from the roots), because some poppies are annuals (which are grown from seed).
Hardiness Zones: 4 to 9
Varieties to try: Goliath, Forncett Summer
Learn more: Poppy Flower Facts and Symbolism
Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina)
Fuzzy, silvery, deer-resistant plants with tall spiked flowers make a statement. The flowers are interesting, but the soft, wooly leaves are the stars.
Hardiness Zones: 4 to 8
Varieties to try: Silver Carpet, Big Ears
Learn more: Deer Resistant Plants
Verbena
These drought-tolerant plants add months of color to hot, sunny spots. They bloom most of the summer (sometimes all the way until frost) in pinks and purples. Be sure to choose a perennial type, as some are considered annuals.
Hardiness Zones: 7 to 11
Varieties to try: Bonariensis (heirloom), Santos Purple
Find more: Drought Tolerant Plants
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